You ask the question "How could anybody vote for Palin?" And how could anyone be stupid enough to think that Barack Obama is just like Hitler? This can't be about capitalism vs. socialism, as most voters don't even understand the difference. I think it's more about culture than it is about economic theories.Just a little warning here, this blog contains references that may be offensive to people who hate Obama, who approve of torture, who want to kill all Muslims and liberals, who think the educational system and the media have a liberal bias, and believe that Hitler was a loony lefty.
Now here are my observations.
1. Barack Obama is black according to slave state definitions
2. In the southern USA, black people were kept as slaves
3. The people who voted against Barack Obama were concentrated in the slave owning states, as can bee seen from electoral maps.
Based on these observations I think there was some psychological trauma to the white people of the slave states, that has been handed down generation after generation. I believe the Republican party was able to tap into that dysfunction to gain fanatical core following, and win some big elections.
The slavery that evolved in the southern USA was on a scale that had never before been seen in the history of the world. This type of slavery was made possible with sailing ships and the "discovery" of America. It's possible that the long sea voyage also was a critical ingredient in slavery's final perverted form. The extreme racism and slavery in the southern USA created a massive breakdown of the normal taboos against torture, mutilation, whipping, and rape. The white people even turned their own mixed race children into slaves. Anyone who thinks this can be done with no mental damage has not studied the psychology of parenthood.
You can't see outward signs of this trauma, you need time to study the behaviour patterns, as the Republican strategists did.
Southerners sincerely believed in their own goodness, even while torturing, lynching, and raping slaves. Obviously you would need to shut down part of your brain to swallow that contradiction. Knowing that, a Republican political strategist could take advantage of these weaknesses:
- Plain and simple ignorance - denial of science, reason, and education.
- People who are easily brainwashed by religion, fairy tale history and fake news
When slavery needs to be maintained by terror and violence, you live in constant state of fear, fear not only of black people but even fear of white people who do not share your racist views. This can lead to obsessions with guns and the military, and with theories of racial superiority. The Republican party has used the fear, hate, and love of guns and war to their advantage.
What happens when rape of slaves by the white owners becomes widespread? A breakdown of normal sexuality and family values, to be replaced by worries about homosexuality, incest, and bestiality. The southern obsession with Family Values, God and Honour is an overcompensation for their perverted history. Republicans have taken advantage of the southern sexual obsessions.
Southern conservatives also harbour a distrust of tolerant, educated people i.e. liberals. And they have a fear of the free press. The Republicans discovered that this was the perfect audience for fake TV news channel, and radio talk shows to feed the delusions, to spread their party propaganda of fear and hate.
That's why there are so many angry gun toting conservatives in the USA, and the endless propaganda also explains why the conservatives think the liberals are crazy, brainwashed, Godless socialist baby killing, homosexual traitors voting for Obama.
What I find fascinating is the reversal of fortunes in The South between the Republicans and Democrats.
ReplyDeleteHaving been virtually wiped out as a political force in the South during Reconstruction (following the Civil War), with the 'Southern Strategy' a century later, the Republicans became the party of choice.
The Republicans, of course, were the party of Lincoln, the party that sent the Union Army to invade the South, burning and plundering its cities and countryside, raping and murdering and finally subjugating its people.
There are some interesting insights in Kevin Phillips' American Theocracy. Phillips, one of the original authors of the Republican 'Southern Strategy' during the Nixon administration, is appalled by the direction the Republican party has taken in the last 30 years.
The Republican Party was founded in 1850 by anti-slavery activists, so it's not surprising that the south voted Democrat after the war. But when Democratic president Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, southern voters and politicians immediately began to move to the Republicans, with the intent of taking over that party and defeating the Democrats. Which they accomplished for a while.
ReplyDeleteIt's taking long time for Americans to realize the Republican extremists actually hate most of the USA. esp. California and New York, which are now the core support for the Democrats.
Stipulated that the Republican Party officially came into existence just before the Civil War, but it was essentially an outgrowth of the earlier Whig party, whence most of its initial members came (along with members of the Free Soil and 'Know Nothing' parties).
ReplyDeleteSome parallels, I suppose, with our own current 'Conservative' party ... at the time of the 2003 merger, predominated by the Reform Party, but in the eyes of most Canadians generally seen as part of a Conservative Party in existence since shortly after Confederation.
It seems to be taking Canadians a long time to realize that many Conservatives actually hate most Canadians, especially in the Toronto area (but, then, most Canadians outside the GTA seem to share that view ... LOL!!)